iPhone and M3/M4 hearing-aid compatibility?

Written on February 26, 2007 by Jason Terhorst and 21 people have commented

This may be the most obscure comment you’ll read in speculation leading up to the iPhone’s release, but I thought of this when testing out phones before picking my Treo 650, as well as the issues that my Mom is having with her dated Motorola StarTac (did I say dated? I meant ancient…)

My concern is with how well the iPhone may or may not work with hearing aid devices which I and other hearing-impaired individuals use. I should clarify further that I mean *digital* hearing aids - those that have a secondary mode which switches off the microphone and activates a telecoil “mode”. The telecoil allows (or did allow) for the wearer to put their ear up to a telephone and get a nice, clear signal from the phone. (if you try to put a hearing aid up to a phone or any surface normally, you get a nice, loud, squealing sound, and no usable audio gets through) This was a minor annoyance, but I could get used to it, provided the “switching interface” of the hearing aid was easy enough that I could press a button. In normal use, this worked great for me for years with landline phones.

Enter the digital cell phone. These devices are great, and provide a really nice connection compared to those old clunky analog phones. The problem for hearing aid users comes when those digital transmitters interfere with the normal operation of the telecoil. GSM phones are reportedly sometimes worse than CDMA in this area. My Treo with Verizon works fairly well, though there is a minor bit of buzzing. (because of its “contoured” shape around the top earpiece, I can use it without the need to switch to telecoil, since I get no feedback, and the output volume is great! I tried the Motorola Q, but its hearing aid compatibility was terrible, and the flat shape made for a lot of feedback)

I’m not familiar with how these devices work exactly, but my understanding is that the manufacturers have techniques that they can use to minimize if not eliminate the buzzing, hissing, and static for hearing aid users. The US government recently asked cell phone makers and service providers to make sure that their phones are compatible - by using designations of M3 and M4. My Treo works well (the buzzing is there, but not excessive), while my sister’s Samsung get-this-phone-free-with-a-plan-P.O.S. from Verizon does not. My dad’s Cingular-based Blackberry does not work well for my Mom’s hearing aids (nor me, either), but her old StarTac is slightly better, but you get a bad buzzing when the backlight is on. (my sister and dad have no need for hearing aids, so they aren’t as “picky” when it comes to phones)

Price does not seem to be a factor in how individual phones are built, as compatibility is all over the map, with the most expensive Blackberrys oftentimes being worse than the cheaper models (or more expensive Palm devices). Some Windows Mobile “smart”phones work well, others do not. I hate Nokia phones, and every one I’ve tried has horrible audio quality, with and without hearing aids.

Getting back to the topic at hand (Apple, of course) … will the iPhone work well for hearing aid users? With its cool messaging and email features, hearing-impared folks can make good use of its text; but can they also hear through it, if need be? Has Apple provided any information about this; will devices be subject to interference from the phone?

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#1 Örjan Larsson says:
Hello

Myself am having trouble with GSM phones, they sometimes can disturb my CI (cochlea implant) with an high “tice-tac” signal. The same that can disturb some TV etc, if you have your GSM phone near.

My solution to that is to use an normal wired handsfree. Put the minispeaker from the handsfree near your telecoil, and set the CI or hearing aid in Telecoil mode. Because the speaker inside the handsfree is an coil of sort, it does work in T-mode. Works great for me, and is easy to test if it might work for U 2.
#2 John says:
I’ve had great luck using bluetooth earpieces - no feedback issues at all. Plus that way it doesn’t matter what phone you have.
#3 Chris Ryan says:
Two Phones that work well with Hearing Aids:

Motorola MOTOKRZR K1m Fire
LG VX8300

I have tested these phones with my hearing aids. (Analog Hearing aids)

– Chris
#4 David says:
Jason: Did you mean M3/T4 instead of the M3/M4 rating in the title? Hearing aids usually have a M rating for the microphone and a T rating for the telecoil.

Cheers

David
#5 Jess says:
He probably did mean M3/M4. These are the only two ratings a device can have for the microphone (M) mode. But you are also right that a phone can have a telecoil (T) rating for coupling. So a phone might be M3/T3 or M3/T4, for example.
#6 Janet Miller says:
Hi, Since next year we are going to be required to use hands free phones while driving, I am wondering what is being done for people like me. I wear over the ear hearing aids in both ears, plus I wear glasses. So, you see my ears are full. I thought speaker phone, but its hard to hear if other noises are interfering. I would like to know if there is something for all of us hearing impareds will be able to use. HELP. Thanks Janet Miller
#7 Steve Jackson says:
I use an Artone Bluetooth neckloop which I wear under my shirt. As it has a blinking blue light, I wear it upside down to not distract people. It works well with my Nokia 6600, with the exception that the Artone frequently powers down and if I don’t call turns off. If it turns off and a call comes in, I have to answer in microphone mode as it takes too long to reconnect. The Nokia works well in M mode as long as I’m not in M/T-coil mode which of course I would be. Then I hear digital buzzing and popping.

A good high audio quality, low power consumption Bluetooth connection along with a M4 rating would be all I need. (that and a next generation bluetooth loopset.)
#8 Paul says:
Any news on M3/M4 compatibility with the iPhone?
#9 Gregg says:
What about captions on the videos from the iTunes video store? I would love to get an appleTV but not if I can’t watch anything captioned.
#10 Michael says:
I have been wearing hearing aid’s most of my life and until a few years back struggled with this issue. My job requires that I have access to a cell phone at all times. I tried different carriers, loop sets (a devise that you put around your neck that works with the T switch, and multiple phones…but remained frusterated.

I discovered a few years back that Sprint was the way to go. I can use nearly any phone in their line up without issue. I am currently using a Razr phone with perfect clarity.

Like many of you I am a huge Apple fan and was dissapointed to find that their is an interference issue with the iPhone. If the iPhone was on the Sprint network….we would not have this problem.
#11 Scott Reynolds says:
My wife has one analog (no telecoil) and one digital (with telecoil). She’s very happy with her RAZR V3i, which has a telecoil mode.

I’m still trying to find information on whether the iPhone has a telecoil mode. At this point I suspect the best we can expect is that it doesn’t interfere excessively, else this feature would have been more widely publicized.
#12 Lorraine Wernow says:
I have a cochlear Implant and use the LG8300 phone thru Verizon. It has m4/t4 hearing aid/cochlear implant capability and works great. However I am interested in using email and aol.com chat also and am considering switching to a phone that has all these features. I was hoping the Iphone would be the phone to use but do not see any specifications for M4/T4 listed for it. Please advise. Lorraine
#13 Regina Kelly says:
I have digital in the ear hearing aids and had the worst time finding a phone that was load enough and didn’t give a lot of feedback. The LG CU400 fit the bill. It’s extrememly loud which is good because I can even use it without my aids sometimes. But, I want a iPhone and like everyone else, I’m trying to find out if it is compatiable with the tcoil and how loud it is. If it isn’t loud, it’s not going to work for me. I have a very hard time hearing on the phone especially in traffic and in the store and other noisy places. Hope they have one at the store set up for me to try so I can see how loud and how much feedback it produces. That would be sweet. I’d like to have one.
#14 joanne toth says:
the jitterbug is the best cell phone for hearing aid users
#15 jeremy says:
As we all know, i phone isn’t compatible with our hearing aids, because it’s an apple product and They didn’t comply with FCC rules.

http://www.insanelygreatmac.com/news.php?id=7702
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1125819&tstart=135

if you really want i phone, considering getting bluetooth compatible with hearing aid, or something of that kind. I would imagine that iphone 2 will come out equipped with the feature sorely needed.
#16 Steve says:
Chiming in. Wear OTE aids. Have telecoil. Will travel. Can’t discover what the M/T ratings on iPhone are. All the gadgets we need (and expense) to just function! (Vent). So bottom line for me: any cell phone, one Bluetooth earpiece, the other ear for real world input. Sounds like a plan, but then there’s always where do I stash the HA I take out on the fly? ….. Ugh.
#17 Lisa says:
My 11 year old son wears hearing aids and having trouble with cellphones. However, we have the t-coil headphones on order and waiting to see how they will work. The connection can be either 2.5mm or 3.5mm with a ear hook that sits next to the hearing aid to connect the tcoil… (no feedback because the phone isn’t near the aid). I think the cord has a built in mic, but if not, he would just have to speak in the phone. Anyway, this would work for the iphone since it has a 3.5 mm jack.
#18 Bob says:
I am hearing impaired and would love to be able to use my Iphone as a hearing assistance device. By that I mean use the mic in the iphone to pick up ambient sound and play it simultaneously into the ear buds one would use with an iphone. Does anyone know if this is possible? Please e-mail me with this information at info@wntk.com
Thanks,
Bob
#19 Steve Perkins says:
I’m in the same boat, folks. BTE hearing aids, got the iPhone ‘cuz I CAN hear better on it than any others I tried, using my Tcoil setting, though I didn’t try ALL the other cell phone options.

FYI: I have Bang & Olafsen earbuds (about five years old now), with them IN and my HAs OUT and plugged into the iPhone I can hear music and incoming calls rather well EVEN in my noisy gym. But fie to the guy who tries to talk to me at that very moment.

That’s not the solution to what we need: cell rings, click something, put to ear, communicate (like the rest of the world).

I know one thing for certain, the more people sound off and speak up about this, the more action we’ll get. Strength in numbers. Power to the vocal, nada to the silent. Spread the word.

I should stop fuming and find out which desk at the FCC is receptive and/or responsible for the hearing aid compatible cell phone mandate. He/she needs to hear all this loud and clear.

I’ll let you know.